These states are most attractive to "dark" personalities, study suggests

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FILE - Jail cells (Photo by J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images)

Researchers trying to understand "dark" personality traits like narcissism, psychopathy and sadism have found a direct link between those characteristics and places with high corruption, poverty and violence. 

The study, conducted by three researchers from the University of Copenhagen and published in the scientific journal PNAS, used data from 1.8 million people in 183 countries, including 144,000 people in the United States. 

What they found is a moderate correlation between adverse social conditions and the dark personalities of people who live among them. Although the proven link between society and personality is considered moderate, the impact can be profound, researchers concluded. 

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‘Dark Factor’

Big picture view:

According to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, the dark factor of personality is defined as "the tendency to maximize one’s individual utility while disregarding, accepting, or malevolently provoking disutility for others," and "hold beliefs that, in their minds, justify their anti-social behavior." 

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What they're saying:

"Aversive personality traits are associated with behaviours such as aggression, cheating, and exploitation – and thus with high social costs," Ingo Zettler, one of the study’s authors, said in a news release. 

"In societies where rules are broken without consequences and where the conditions for many citizens are bad, individuals perceive and learn that one should actually think of oneself first," he continued. "Our findings substantiate that personality is not just something we are born with, but also shaped by the society we grew up and live in."

States with the most adverse societal conditions

Local perspective:

Charts from the study show the following states have the most adverse societal conditions: 

• Louisiana 
• Mississippi
• New Mexico
• Alabama
• Texas
• New York

States with the least adverse societal conditions

• New Hampshire
• Utah
• Minnesota
• Vermont
• Wisconsin
• Iowa

States with the most ‘dark’ personalities

• Nevada
• New York
• Texas
• South Dakota
• Alabama
• Georgia

States with the fewest ‘dark’ personalities

• Vermont
• Utah
• Maine
• Oregon
• Alaska
• New Hampshire

Decreasing the ‘dark factor’

What you can do:

Researchers said governments that reduce corruption and inequality could "not only create better living conditions just now – they may also contribute to mitigating aversive personality levels among citizens in the future."